Christmas Wishes from the Foxes Den

Our tree

Lennah's new toy shelf.

My Little Drummer Boy. Probably the real reason the tree finished getting decorated on Christmas Day!

Cooking the first turkey dinner that wasn't to be.

Some of our guests.

The 4 foot inflatable "Moo", as Lennah calls it.

Getting ready to open presents on Boxing Day.

Lennah putting her new tools to good use.

Whew, it didn't look like that much under the tree.

Relaxing the next day. The PJ's say it all, "Tis the Season"
Merry Christmas Everyone, We Missed You.

Well, after a very shaky start, we managed to get Christmas turkey dinner on Boxing Day.

Long story. After forgetting to buy our turkey when I was on the coast, I again, almost forgot to buy the turkey in Prince George. It was 9:30 at night and we were leaving Prince to head home, when I got on the radio to Nathan. "Emergency, Emergency" was all I said and he came running over to my truck, "I forgot to buy the turkey!". Now, keep in mind, we'd already done all our Christmas dinner shopping early that day, all the fixings for stuffing, dessert, etc. How I forgot? Blame it on the pregnant brain. So, in to Save On I run, hoping it would still be open and buy the largest turkey I could find. I find a 20lb turkey that should be perfect for a dinner of six adults with leftovers. So, onward home we go. We get as far as Fort St James around 12:30am and I can't go on. I just don't have the stamina I usually do. And I certainly wasn't going to drive another 3 hours in to Takla in the dark when I was that tired. So, we get a room to spend the night. We arrive home safely the next afternoon on the 23rd.

So, on Christmas Eve day, I remind Nathan to bring the turkey inside so I can thaw it out for dinner. You see, we'd left it in a cooler in the back of his patrol truck, since it certainly is cold enough up here! A few minutes later Nathan comes back inside and he's furious! It would seem that the turkey had been stolen out of the back of his police truck! $35 worth of turkey - gone! At first, I totally don't believe him, he's always trying to pass a fast one on me, but it was true. Thank goodness his corporal was in Fort on business and we radioed him to pick up another turkey for dinner. This time we ended up with a smaller one, so I decided to cook up a ham I had in the freezer as well.

Well, this is not the end of the story. I give the ham to the corporal's wife to put in their oven and I put the turkey in ours. I periodically check on it, finding it's not cooking quite as fast as I'm used to. Thanksgiving turkey turned out fantastic and our oven is normally right on the temperature. But, after 4 hours in at 350 degrees, our turkey is still pink - purple in some spots! We make the decision to go ahead with ham dinner. I had transferred the turkey over to the neighbors oven some time before dinner and cooked it for another hour, and yet it was still half raw.

Turkey was then scheduled for Boxing Day. Donna threw it in the oven for another hour the next day to reheat it and finish cooking it, by this time I'm convinced it's going to be super overdone, dryer than a bone, but it turned out fantastic! It was still moist, the stuffing awesome! It definitely was a very much appreciated and enjoyed turkey.

That's still not the end of our Christmas tale. On Christmas Eve, when Nathan and I were going to finish decorating the tree (yes, that's correct) and build Lennah's big Christmas gift. Nathan had to transfer a prisoner into the Fort, this was about midnight. He'd been busy with two prisoners in custody and was unable to even eat dinner at home. Then, after transferring the prisoner, he had a couple of calls in town which kept him out until after 5am. He didn't get to bed until 6am Christmas morning. So, needless to say, with getting turkey disaster together and all our company, we didn't have a chance to open presents on Christmas day. We finally managed to open gifts on Boxing Day, just before dinner! It's a good thing Lennah didn't know the difference and was so happy with her toy storage shelf that I made for her, but, next year I don't think we'd get away with it.

All in all, it was a great Christmas. Yes, we missed our families, as this was our first Christmas on our own. But, our little family was still together and you can't ask for much more.

Hopefully next year we'll all be together again with another little Fox to join us. Merry Christmas to all ...

Merry Christmas from the Nelson Family

My Mom's beautiful Christmas tree, by "candlelight". My Mom didn't decorate in red for the first time in many years this year. She went with blue and silver. Unfortunately, this photo does not do the tree any justice. It was gorgeous, with silver reindeer, snowflakes and blue dragonflies.

Auntie Sheri and Grandpa Nelson having a little tea party with Lennah and Eric with Lennah's new Tupperware juice jug and cups set.

Uncle Francois and Eric with Eric's new tool belt and work gloves.

I came back down to the coast to celebrate Christmas with our families early this year as Nathan was unable to get time off work. One of those sacrifices we made when Nathan took the post in Takla and the opportunity to be home with Lennah.

We had a lovely ham dinner that my Mom also prepared for us. And, tiramisu cheese cake that Auntie Sheri made. Unfortunately, I didn't get many shots of Christmas dinner and the present opening with the kids. Both Eric and Lennah were far too busy playing with their new toys to "pose" for our photos. And dinner was far too wonderful to stop eating and take pictures!

Santa Baby

This is this year's Santa picture. As you can probably tell, Lennah was not impressed with Santa. I kind of thought she might be okay with him as Grandpa Bill had grown himself quite a large white beard that Lennah has taken to rubbing. But, there was no fooling our little girl, this was NOT Grandpa (or Papa, as she's taken to calling him). This was the only shot the photographer managed to get that was passable. If you're wondering why Lennah is right on the edge of the photo, it is because she was clinging to me. I just managed to lean as far back as I could when the photographer took the shot.

First Snow Day

The tears have already started!

Knee deep on Daddy's tailgate.

Maybe we shouldn't have tried to bury her.

I'm such a bad Mom. At least in this picture I managed to stop laughing. Lennah wouldn't even walk in the snow!

Daddy trying to comfort Lennah, too. I think this is when we decided to call it a day.

I know I've been delinquent in taking Lennah out into the snow. We've had snow since first week of November and she hasn't been out to play in it. But December 4th's conditions were perfect. We woke up to about 5 inches of new snow and then the sun came out in the afternoon. On my last trip down to the coast Daddy got her a proper snow sled that we can pull her around in. My intentions are a little selfish as I have to try and get some exercise in some way. I can't walk the dogs or walk around town here, the way I used to when we were on the coast.

~ Lennah and Nona ~

Here are some pictures of Lennah with her Nona taken when Lennah was 6 weeks old and just before her first birthday.

~ Food Fight ~

This is the evolution of the "meal" in the last year. From Lennah's first meal of solid food (with Dawson looking for some, too), to her first ever Pirate Pack, to just last night (she even got yogurt on her eyelashes!). I call it the "food fight" for obvious reasons. I should have included pictures of the dogs camped out on the floor below her chair or the floor after she's done throwing half her food on it. Maybe I'll update the collage with those shots next time.

The Camper

Here's a couple of shots of our latest aquisition. Nathan and I bought a camper a couple of weeks ago. I'm thinking it's an awfully big and comfortable dog house for Nathan. Too comfortable, perhaps?

Toques

We could not resist posting some more pictures of Lennah. Here she is in Daddy's toque. She looks like a mini-Relic from The Beachcombers.

Here's Daddy taking a picture of the two of them in matching toques.

This shot was taken after "The Terrible 2's Terrorist Camp" Lennah has been taking. I know she's not 2 years old yet, but she's starting early. When not flinging her food on the floor or feeding the dogs when she's supposed to be eating dinner, she's flinging herself on the floor throwing a tantrum. (Not too sure what she's going to do with the cell phone, though ...)

Manson Lake

I couldn't resist a few more shots of the surrounding area. These photos are of one of the Manson Lakes near Germansen Landing. Nathan had to attend the village on business last week and took these pictures along the way. The drive took him about 6 hours each way as he had to drive to Fort St James and then into Germansen. It is located just over a mountain range, but that road is impassable this time of year.

Halloween Costumes

Daddy playing "Tick Tock" on the wall to make Lennah smile.

The tears are starting - again.

Better late than never. Lennah's two Halloween costumes. My little police officer and a turtle. Neither one made her very happy, she didn't like her head covered on either costume and certainly didn't like the turtle mitts on her hands. But, even with all the tears, she still looked adorable.

Just Lennah

We had to share this shot of our Lennah-bums. It is just pure Lennah.

Horned Owl

Here's a sight you don't see everyday. I glanced out my kitchen window this afternoon and lo and behold! There was a horned owl perched on our fire hydrant. Even with 2 dogs and a cat running around, he wasn't disturbed. I walked as close as I dared and then Nathan approached even closer and got these great shots. It wasn't until Bogey crept up to the hydrant and made his mewwing sound (aka: I'm gonna get ya!), that the owl flew away.

Jello

My sad attempt at using Sesame Street silicone molds. They sure don't look like Oscar or Elmo.

Lennah loves Jello! I made it for the first time for Lennah on Sunday. And I'm happy to say we both thoroughly enjoyed it. She didn't seem to mind that they didn't resemble any Sesame Street characters.

Autumn in Surrey

These photos were taken outside the Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Surrey on November 3. We were there for the baptism of Dylan Murphy, the first son of our good friends, Sean and Abby Murphy. Nathan graciously accepted the position of one of the godfathers.

Afterwards, we let Lennah play in the rain. She had a fantastic time running away from Mom and picking up leaves.

Lennah's Namesake

If anyone has ever wondered where Lennah's name came from, here she is! Our good friend Langis has a grown daughter named Lenna. When we heard her name, Nathan and I immediately liked it. We thought long and hard, added an "h" and voila! Our little Lennah was named. We finally had an opportunity to meet Lenna when our Lennah was about three months old.